Moses l



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MOSES L. LORENTZ, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

KEY-FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 614,115, dated November 15, 1898. Application filed August 23,1898- Serial No. 689,320. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Mosns L. LORENTZ, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, in the city of New York, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Key-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means forsupple= menting the ordinary looks or dead-latches of doors,with reference to renderingthe locked door more secure against intrusion or burgla rious entry.

The present invention consists in a safe ty-spring of peculiar construction adapted for use in connection with the ordinary doorkey as a key-fastener.

A sheet of drawings accompanies this specification as part thereof.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a perspective view of the safety-spring detached. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary edge view of a locked door, showing the safety-spring in place; and Fig. 3 represents a horizontal section on the line 3, Fig. 2.

Like letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in the several figures.

The safety-spring S is of flat metal, preferably hard brass or steel, of suitable Width, having permanent bends, which form flanges a and b, at its respective extremities and a U-shaped bow c at one end, together with a bend d, substantially opposite said flange a, from Which a straight stem e projects obliquely from the bow at a slight angle to a permanent bend fat its effective extremity,

said stem being doubled on itself, so as to 10-- cate said flange I) close to bend d.

In Figs. 2 and 3 an ordinary door is represented at D, an ordinary door-lock at L,with its dead-latch bolt at g, a pair of keyhole plates or escutcheons at E, with keyholes at h, and the customary keyhole enlargementin the door between said escutcheons at i, and the door-key at K, Fig. 2, with its ordinary bow (shown in edge View) at k. v

The safety-spring S is fitted to the contracted lower or bit portion of the keyhole,with its flange a interlocked with the escutcheon E at the inner or near side of the door within the near keyhole enlargement h, its stem e projecting into and preferably through the lock L, so as to prevent the insertion or operation the back of said of a key or picklock from the other side of the door, and the shoulder formed at b interlooking with the escutcheon on the other side of the keyhole.

The stem 6, doubled on itself, as above deerted against it through the keyhole-pas= sage.

By simply giving the key the customary eX= tra turn after the bolt is shot and then insert ing the safety-spring the latter prevents unlocking the door by means of the key while the spring is in place, the stem 6 crossing the path of the bit of the turned key, so as to prevent any unlocking movement.

The safety-spring is manipulated by grasping the bow 0 between finger and thumb and compressing the bow between the two until the flange a and the shoulder at I) clear the interlocking escutcheon E, the spring being inserted or withdrawn lengthwise.

The shape and relative proportions of the bow 0 may vary. The flange b and the do1i= bling of the stem 6 may in some cases be omit= ted, and other like modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

Having thus described said improvement, I claim as my invention and desire to patent under this specificationl. A key-fastener consisting of a safety spring, of flat metal, having an outwardly springing bow at one end provided with a flange to catch within the keyhole passage for attaching the springv in place, and a stem at the other end of the spring to obstruct the keyhole-passage and to interlock with the bit of the key.

2. A safety-spring, of flat metal, having an outwardlyspringing bow provided with a flange to attach the spring in place within a keyhole-passage, and a stem doubled upon itself to obstruct said passage and provided with a supplemental attaching-shoulder, sub= stantially as hereinbefore specified.

MOSES L. LORENTZ.

Witnesses FREDERICK Conn, IGNATZ SCHLINGER. 

